Currently historic: A tribute to Wainwright

Let’s talk about Adam Wainwright. He’s been getting very light treatment in the column so far because, frankly, the “historic” numbers aren’t that interesting. I mean, walks per nine and K/BB ratio don’t really have much pizzazz. But he is having a fantastic season.

As is the case with many pitchers, Wainwright has missed a lot of time to injury and he’s now into his 30s. Given the rough year he had last year, I’m sure many people were figuring he wouldn’t be great again (never mind that his peripherals were still good). But this year, he has taken another leap entirely. He isn’t walking anyone and he’s still striking batters out. That’s what makes him special.

Right now, his strikeout to walk ratio is 8.06. That’s the eighth best modern season ever. The list of players above him goes like this: Bret Saberhagen, Cliff Lee, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Ben Sheets. That is good company. It’s also a very contemporary list which has a whole lot to do with the prevalence of strikeouts in the modern game.

In any case, Wainwright is having a banner year, and he deserved to start the column at least once. Now that we’ve tipped our hat, let’s see what else has been going on in this baseball equivalent of Thanksgiving break…

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Our big hitters are still hitting. Joey Votto leads the league in OBP (I really think that’s just about a slam dunk unless he gets hurt), but it’s probably times to stop tracking the other markers we’ve been watching for him. He’s going to finish the season having reached base many, many times, but not quite historically many, and he doesn’t seem very likely to lead the league in hits (he’s fifth, 11 back). Still, four times in a row leading the league in OBP is a serious and historic accomplishment.

Miguel Cabrera has seen his times-on-base pace dip a bit to 326. That’s a top-30 season, but it sure would be nice to see if he could pick it up a little more. He also continues to lead the league in walks and hits, though Manny Machado is still hot on his heels in the hit department.

He is now losing in his quest to lead two Triple Crown categories after winning the previous year. Chris Davis now has a one RBI lead, though Cabrera still has a healthy lead in batting average.

And speaking of Chris Davis, he’s now on a 59 home run pace. That would put him in the top 10, but just barely. He needs to knock a few this week if he’s going to keep it up. He’s still on pace for 107 extra-base hits though, and that would be really awesome.

The only other hitter we’re tracking because of what happens when he makes contact is Manny Machado. That doubles record is not looking good. He’s on pace for only 63 now. However, even if he just gets to 60 it will be something because no one has done that in a bajillion years.

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Now let’s talk about all kinds of strikeouts.

Yu Darvish is down to just a 280 strikeout pace, assuming 33 starts. I’m interested to hear how many starts Rangers fans think he’ll get, but it’s looking shaky. He needs a big game or two if we’re going to keep tracking him.

The Astros have upped their pace just a little bit and are now on track for 1,506 strikeouts. 1,529 is still the record, so they have a climb yet, but this is the first time in weeks their pace has increased.

And now our list of striker outers:

Chris Carter, 128 Ks 209 K pace: Carter’s pace has really come down, and though the record seems unlikely, he does still seem like a good bet for 200.

Adam Dunn, 111 Ks, 185 K pace: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but soon it may be time to stop tracking Dunn. He’s simply making too much contact.

Mike Napoli, 127 Ks, 202 K pace: Mike Napoli continues to impress. Especially given that he’s had some time off through the year.

Dan Uggla, 120 Ks, 194 K pace: Uggla dropped off a bit since last we checked. He’s still in the hunt, though.

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There is one new and interesting stat to track this week. Reader Thomas emailed to let me know that the Orioles were on pace to commit only 50 errors this year. That would handily beat the old record of 65 set by the 2003 Seattle Mariners. Some things are going right in Baltimore this year.

Interestingly, in researching it, I found that this year’s Rays are also on pace to break the old record by committing only 62 errors this season.

About Jason Linden

Jason teaches high school English, writes fiction, runs a small writing program and writes about education and literature. He also writes for Redleg Nation and both writes and edits for The Hardball Times. Follow him on Twitter @JasonLinden, visit hiswebsite or email him here.

Comments

On the Orioles errors: They are an excellent defensive team and dont have anyone who is a defensive liability who would hurt their team pct. However, its my opinion that defensive percentages in general are so impressive these days because official scorers have become so reluctant to charge errors. Both leagues, all positions.

Do you really think Darvish will get to 33 starts? He has 19 with 62 games to go, pitched two days ago and just came off the DL. They just got Ogondo back and picked up Garza. They seem to have enough depth not to need to go to a four man rotation or even skip the fifth starter when they have an off day.

I can’t say that I have anything significant to add, but I love checking this site out, if for nothing else than to take freaky stats back to the office the next day. The fact that Rivera is only 4th on the all-time appearances list was really surprising. thanx